In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The controversy surrounding the initial statement released by the Islamic Association of North America (ISNA) in regards to the Baltimore Uprising is far from over, and is in fact beginning to reach a fever pitch exposing many of tensions and contradictions that have for too long gone largely unaddressed.
In an exchange on Facebook, ISNA board member Asad Ba-Yunus all but accused Linda Sarsour, the Executive Director of the Arab American Association of New York, who was among the first to speak out against ISNA’s de facto denunciation of the uprising, of being guilty of treason daring to defend the uprising. The essence of her criticism was that ISNA only saw fit to make a statement when law and order had been broken, not, however, when the police murdered Freddie Gray, or much less when the protests were largely peaceful. Ba-Yunus, however, responded by insinuating that Sarsour supported the violence. To my knowledge. while Sarsour and many more spoke out against ISNA’s statement , they have yet to take that step.
At this juncture I believe this question of violence must be addressed head on, and I will take the position in the case of the Baltimore Uprising that this violence is just. In general, we’ve seen street battles against the police, and the burning and looting of police cars, and some stores including a cash checking shop. This violence, however, will only make sense if we understand its political and social significance.
bayou burning 